Refractions of a Destiny
by Katany
Summary: As his ability to control Nine-Tails becomes unstable, Naruto is forced to flee from Akatsuki. But when a blow from Sasuke accidentally grants him complete control of Nine-Tail's chakra, Naruto must choose between power to stop the war and Gaara's sanity.
1. Belated Revelation

Refractions of a Destiny

By: Katany

Disclaimer: Characters borrowed and manipulated for fun, not profit.

Setting: This is set two and a half years into the 4th Ninja War as I extrapolated it from the manga up until Naruto heads to the Land of Lightning but before he completes his training. The details of the war and fate of the characters after that are AU as Masashi Kishimoto will work far faster than I. My war is slightly dark and will contain character deaths, but I figure I'm more following a precedent than changing the genre. No obvious spoilers though outside of vague things like Land of Lightning and training, which really aren't spoilers at all unless you consider the fact there is fighting, traveling, and training in Naruto as a spoiler.

(~«§»~)

Destiny can't be changed, blah blah. Stop whining about stupid crap like that. Since... you're not a loser like me. -_Naruto_ ch.104

(~«§»~)

Sasuke's left knee broke through Naruto's defenses. Bracing himself for a low impact, Naruto was unprepared for the fluid change in Sasuke's attack. Naruto felt the opening he left a second before Sasuke's blow landed. Though he pushed backwards with Sasuke's punch, the force still sent him flying straight backwards through the line of trees. Arching his back and reaching above him, Naruto blindly grasped for something to control his plummet. He was able to dig his claws into the dirt and flip himself over but his momentum still drove him further despite the six meter long claw marks left in his wake. He only stopped when his feet hit a tree behind him causing it to crack as he crouched vertically against it. Two chakra tails flicked excitedly above him as he stared back at Sasuke.

With the angle of the sun, Naruto couldn't distinguish Sasuke's movements but noticed his opponent had returned to a defensive stance instead of continuing the attack. Typically, Naruto would've used the pause to yell at his opponents, trying to collect knowledge of their skills or plans or, in Sasuke's case, return him to his senses. He had learned early that verbal sparing was as important as the physical aspect of the fight. But neither man had spoken since Sasuke had dropped from the trees in front of Naruto's path and Naruto decided to let it remain that way.

The tree cracked again when Naruto used it as a springboard to cross on all fours back to Sasuke. Though he forced his opponent to retreat a step, each of his blows were blocked in succession until he noticed too late he'd been parried into leaving his left hip open. Three hits sent Naruto flying into the same tree. This time Naruto's impact was uncontrolled, knocking him through the first tree and into the second before he fell to the ground.

Returning to a crouch, Naruto surveyed his opponent. Sasuke had certainly increased his speed and strength for the last two attacks. The two had an unspoken agreement to see who could power up the least, each slowly forcing the other to match or surpass the current level set. After the first ten minutes of what remained mostly a taijutsu battle, Naruto had wondered if it was some sort of stall tactic. But the others weren't due back to the rendezvous point for nearly an hour and if they were in some sort of danger he was now wise enough not to run in circles searching for them. If Sasuke's lackeys were attacking his only option still was to trust in his companions. Besides, if he had to characterize Sasuke's behavior it'd be that the other man was having fun.

Naruto spit a mass of blood before increasing the flow of red chakra around himself. He had never known Sasuke to fight for fun before. Even training in his youth, Sasuke had fought with a singular purpose. For the last of the Uchiha clan, the battle had been about the most power instead of the current battle about doing the most damage with the least power.

As the third tail snapped into place with the other two, Naruto launched himself at Sasuke. Seconds before his first move, he noticed the other man's eyes had changed once more. He wasn't surprised when his attack was evenly matched instead of overpowering as it should've been.

Maneuvering through the trees in a familiar pattern, Naruto was momentarily struck with a sense of loss. It had been too long since he'd seen any reminders of home outside his traveling companions. Amid the endless landscapes he had traveled were brief contacts with the varied foreign customs, clothes, and languages on this side of the world. Even as he flipped over a leg sweep, Naruto couldn't help enjoy the contact with his home, even if it was part of the war which had driven him away.

Naruto reminded himself again he needed to focus on the end of the battle. He used emotions to drive his combat and nostalgia would be cumbersome. But the fight made him feel young and optimistic in a way he hadn't felt in years, Time rolled back and his friends hadn't betrayed him, his village hadn't be destroyed, and he hadn't been turned into a pawn in a war. He was simply a boy with a dream: to be loved and acknowledged by everyone who had dismissed him. Naruto missed the boy and the boy's dream. It was impossible to plan to finish the fight when he never again wanted to lose the boy he once was.

The two clashed momentarily matched before each pushing back to land on opposing tree branches to catch their breaths. Continuing on even with three tails, Naruto reasoned he could outlast the other man but the steady increase in power would be troublesome. Time away from the villages had left him bereft of the knowledge of Sasuke's current abilities which always seemed to increase exponentially. Already Naruto could feel the presence of Nine-Tails in his three-tailed form, a mere whisper of the control he once exerted against the beast. If the battle continued to escalate, Nine-Tails would gain more dominance in his mind.

Without warning, Sasuke leaped across the distance between the two of them, left leg extended, right hand behind his back. Naruto caught Sasuke's leg easily though he wasn't prepared for the blue glow of chakra moving from behind Sasuke's' back. Recognizing Sasuke had changed the rules, Naruto prepared to dodge and retaliate similarly.

But Naruto didn't dodge and the attack hit his stomach sending fire through his body. Sasuke's face began to fade around the edges as Naruto's eyes slowly closed. His last realization was that perhaps Sasuke had been playing with him in order to allow such a simple attack to succeed.

(~«§»~)

White.

His eyes traveled down the long, muscled arm to the dorsal view of splayed fingers which held the white at bay. The index finger bent slowly at the knuckle, allowing each smooth movement of muscles, tendons, and bones to pull the skin taunt, upwards and to the left. The other fingers followed the index finger in turn, reshaping the pattern in his skin like shifting sands. The thumb moved last, tightening its grip around the fingers which curled around the white. With a sharp scrape of nails across skin, the fingers flicked out as if denying the white's advance.

For a moment, through the spaces of the fingers which might have been his own, the white divided and refracted. He could see everything beyond the colors perceived by the human eye, what was undetectable past the blues and reds, until the white converged again and the arm was gone.

Time passed or stood still; there were no changes with which to measure time.

"What was it like to die?" The words spilled over each other in exuberance for the seemingly morbid question. The noise jerked his senses, as if he still had a pulse to quicken or a body to jump. What might have been a resonating human instinct startled his eyes open, yet the white was still with him either way.

"White." The answer was smooth and low, but he knew the fear behind the word without knowing why.

"Eh?"

"Death is white and a vague sense of loss."

"Loss of what?"

"It is a sense of loss for what you do not know."

"Meaning you don't remember what forgot or you forgot what you can't remember?"

"Both. Neither." The second voice quieted. "The white consumes it anyway."

The first voice made a series of muttering sounds followed by hums of agreement. "Well white is all the colors of light. Light is energy. We're energy and since it can't be destroyed it must be converted. So there's no need to fear the white because it's us." The voice peaked in conclusion though there were a few more hums to fill the void signaling a hope for affirmation.

"Perhaps."

"What?" The voice cracked and grew shrill a second with panic. "That's all there is? Energy and light and amnesia? I can't believe that." A loud humph followed and the voice grew determined. "I won't accept that."

There was another pause. "No, even in death you would never lose your way."

The first voice chuckled with light embarrassment. "Hey, hey. Tell me this," the original energy returned. "What was it like to come back?"

He waited, needing to know the answer, but the voices echoed and grew silent. Desperate to follow them, he spun around and was blinded by the red and gold of the sunset. Bringing one short, pudgy arm to shield his eyes he blinked downwards. His shadow stretched from his legs behind him, twisting with the seven tails surrounding it, each tail growing longer as the sun moved lower. The tails converged behind him at the horizon, a place something in his head told him he should not be able to see, taking the form a body which he know would lead to the fox's head. He followed the line of the neck, to the ears, down the nose, to a small pair of feet.

He stopped, knowing instantly it was wrong.

The feet should have cast another shadow backwards, but instead it moved forwards into the fox's head.

And there had never been another child in his shadow.

"No." The hoarse cry sounded desperate to his own ears and he turned and ran towards the other child, cursing the body that he suddenly knew was too small and untrained. "No." The tears left salt trails down his lips, flooding the grass behind him as he ran. "Why is it always you?" He demanded the sun and the shadow on the grass to answer him through his mucus clogged throat. The question was familiar, as if part of the earlier echo. "Why?"

The sun and the shadow refused to answer, and the boy remained huddled at the end of the fox's nose, unmoved by his pleas and no closer than before.

"It's not fair." The declaration was childish and desperate as was the leap towards the other boy. His vision blurry from the tears, he startled when his chest hit something and there was a slight breath of air cooling the tears along his cheek.

They were falling. With a slight twist he moved his back towards the ground, to take the impact, but then they were falling down into the white instead of over into the grass.

Nothing moved as they fell; there was no whistle of air past his ear or wind burn against his skin. His tears trailed behind him, suspended and unaffected by gravity. He and the boy clutched to his chest accelerated continually as they fell, as if that gravity was only infinite against them. The solitary reason he knew he was falling was the distance between the beads of his tears, but they dried up when arms encircled his own waist and the red hair brushed his chin. The distance they fell after was immeasurable. He knew the child would be okay if he were to lose his grip but he only tightened it.

There was a small breath, then that smooth, unwavering voice. "Naruto."

Naruto hit the bottom.

(~«§»~)


	2. Incomplete Sentences

(~«§»~)

His unfocused eyes snapped open when the small of his back touched ground. Naruto arched against the needles of pain lacing up his spine; air was trapped in his lungs or he knew he'd be screaming.

Two light pressures guided him to lay on his right side. Though there was no longer anything touching his back, Naruto's body remained taunt and bowed. Sakura's voice filled the space outside his head where his screams were not. He listened to the flow of her speech, not able to understand her words but knowing from her inflections she was asking him something. As much as his body allowed him, Naruto nodded, trusting Sakura with whatever he was agreeing.

A blue glow blinded him but bit by bit the blue faded with some of the pain until he could soundlessly breathe out. He blinked slowly at Sakura's face, quickly observing the worry lines etched deeply there. The lines he knew he had caused. Naruto pushed himself to find his voice.

"Sakura."

Though her name was probably unintelligible through his dry lips, Sakura gave a small smile. Something soft and wet was pressed against his lips. The trickle of water over his tongue momentarily shocked his throat into closing before he relaxed and could swallow.

"Naruto, can you answer some questions?"

"Yeah." Naruto almost recognized his own voice. Yes, he could count the number of fingers she was holding up. Yes, he could remember current year and the year he was born. Yes, he remembered Iruka's name, of course, as it was a foolish question for Sakura to even consider. No, he didn't know where they were as they were completely lost, no matter what Kakashi said about the inability to be lost when one didn't know his or her destination.

"Do you remember what happened?"

"Sasuke." He spoke the name of his childhood friend slowly. He could still see the moment he was struck even with his eyes open. Sasuke's fist moved towards his abdomen leaving blue lines of energy in its wake. Naruto kept his eyes on the other man's torso trying to predict Sasuke's second move as no Uchiha attack would be simple. Naruto waited to dodge until the last second, trying to give Sasuke the least amount of time to prepare his counter attack. Naruto's body locked; Sasuke's splayed fist connected.

Naruto gasped as if Sasuke's attack was occurring. His hands flew to his stomach checking for wounds he couldn't turn his head to see. But he only found smooth flesh. He noted it didn't tingle as if it had been healed recently.

"Sasuke almost killed you." Sakura's professional demeanor faded as she curled around herself. The action was as achingly familiar to Naruto as the fight was Sasuke had been.

His stomach was forgotten as Naruto tried to catch her eyes again. "Don't cry, Sakura. I hate it when you cry." He had never been the best at comforting with words but, immobilized and out of promises to fix everything, it was the best he could do. Naruto hadn't seen her cry for years and had hoped to always spare her the tears despite the childhood familiarity of it. He reached for her as best her could. "Don't worry, he didn't succeed. I'm still here."

"You don't get it." She pulled back from his hand. "He did succeed. You were dead. You were dead a whole minute."

Naruto closed his eyes as he tried to understand what she had said, but he only saw white instead of the usual black. But focusing on Sakura was easier than focusing on the knowledge of his death. Watching the tears fall, Naruto felt his anger flare.

"Stupid fox." Naruto forgot about the pain of his body as he stood yelling at the familiar cage. But mentally exhausted, Naruto was finished with familiar. It had always been the three of them: Sasuke, Sakura, and himself. Except really there had always been a fourth even when he hadn't consciously known about him. It was too much _then _amid too much _now_ and Naruto let it fuel his rage. "You made Sakura cry. I thought you had enough sense to keep me alive even if you hate me." He kicked some water at his feet. "When I die, you die, remember?"

Naruto tapped his finger against his arm and growled when no reply came. He hadn't spoken to the Nine-Tails since Killer Bee's death at the hands of Akatsuki almost a year ago. More precisely Nine-Tails stopped speaking to him and Naruto had chosen to enjoy the silence. For a time, Naruto could pretend to be ignorant of the demon as he had been before the pact he made when Jiraiya threw him off the cliffs. But the silence became irksome.

"I know you plan to kill me, but you know you need to deal with the seal first or we both go. So until then, you need to keep me alive."

Naruto took another step towards the bars, his anger building at the lack of response. "Answer me, stupid fox."

Nine tails smashed in succession against the cage right next to where Naruto was standing. Startled by the reaction, he took a step backwards and the pain of the real world returned.

"Sakura." He had always hated watching her cry, though the reasons now where different than in childhood. Comforting Sakura was more important than fighting Nine-Tails or considering his death. "Sakura, I'm here now, thanks to you."

"No, it wasn't me. It was Kakashi."

"Kakashi? Did he-" Naruto couldn't finish the thought. "I know he's come back himself, but he wouldn't-"

"No," Sakura thankfully stopped him. He knew Sakura still didn't discuss Chiyo and such rituals were rarely discussed. "It wasn't that. Kakashi is simply exhausted. He's resting behind you."

He followed her finger over his shoulder, but couldn't move his head to verify her words. "Okay." Naruto finally took notice of the cave lighted by a fire which must've been near his feet. The backs of his legs were warm and the shadows danced along Sakura's face to her left. He began to notice the sound of rain falling outside the cave and the smell of herbs surrounding him. Anchoring himself in the world, Naruto could finally straighten his thoughts. "But why kill me? Sasuke knows Nine-Tails would die as well. Do you think he's trying to stop Akatsuki now? With Nine-Tails dead they couldn't-"

"No."

Naruto felt what little hope had been building crumble. "How could you say that? Weren't you all the ones who said killing Sasuke would be in the name of friendship? Wouldn't it be the same if Sasuke tried to kill me to keep Akatsuki-"

"Just stop, Naruto." Sakura's tears had stopped but she see instead clenched clench her fists. "Don't speak like that. It's different."

"But, Sakura-"

"No," Sakura leaned forward again. "Sasuke wasn't trying to kill you to save the world. He wasn't trying to kill Nine-Tails, only you."

"What?" Any learned politeness slipped away from Naruto with a jolt.

"I don't understand everything myself. Kakashi might explain it better, but you have a prison inside of you, correct?"

"Yes." Naruto quieted as Sakura pulled back into thought.

"And the seal acts like a locked door, which has a key."

"Yes."

"And understanding this key is beyond most people."

"Yes." Naruto sighed.

"So if someone were planning a prison break and they couldn't get through the door, they would have to go another way. Naruto, Sasuke wasn't trying to kill Nine-Tails, he was trying to free it by blowing through what would be a wall of your prison."

"What?" He laid there agape and unable to form complete sentences but he couldn't bother to care.

"Your death would've just been incidental to the explosion in the wall."

"Sasuke." Naruto quieted as he thought of his childhood friend's plan. He could see them then, the characters on the tips of Sasuke's fingers. They danced on the tips of his fingers amidst the blue flame. The image was familiar even if the specific attack on his seal was not.

"Naruto." Sakura finally took his left hand in hers. "I couldn't help you. There was nothing wrong with your body that I could fix."

"What happened after? I mean, I can still feel Nine-Tails' chakra. I know it didn't work."

"Sasuke left. I don't know if he hoped we would weaken Nine-Tails before we died making it easier for him or if he was weakened by the move but he left."

"Oh."

"Kakashi said it was less of an hole and more of a crack. But we could see Nine-Tails leaving you, like tendrils of red chakra. I knew he was good with seals, but... Kakashi had to control the escaping beast and try to seal the crack. He said it should hold but you'd be in pain for a time. It's because of the speed which the seal was created and the strain he was under."

"I don't care about the pain. Nine-Tails is still sealed, but there is still something else. Something is different." He thought back to the bars, the water, and the pipes. There had been a change but he couldn't place it. Naruto was attempting to identify the difference when he realized he missed most of what Sakura had been saying.

"- and I told Kakashi to seal it in a teapot." Sakura's voice began to raise in anger. "I told him to seal it away and bury it forever but he was worried about it; said the shock would kill it. As if it would matter."

Naruto squeezed her hand, trying to get her to calm down. She might have sworn to kill Sasuke but he still didn't like hearing her speak in such a manner. He was still slightly lost for missing the first part of her lecture. In such situations, she needed to finish her rant before he asked for clarification.

"No, it had to be a person." She continued. "It had to be a person because if the shock of being sealed inside a teapot killed Nine-Tails it could kill the part in you." The tears returned and she lowered her voice to a whisper. "And you would die as well."

"So then-"

Sakura took a deep breath, and forced Naruto to wait as she composed herself. "There was only one of us who could've done it. Kakashi never would've asked but he volunteered, even insisted. He understood before Kakashi did I think."

"That means-"

"Yes," Sakura stopped his conclusion again. Naruto would've been annoyed except he was focused on her words. "The Nine-Tails consists of two parts. Its chakra is sealed inside you, Naruto. And its will is sealed inside Gaara."

(~«§»~)


	3. FB: Seekers Two

(~«§»~)

_10 Months Prior_

Naruto flew through the tree branches. While it was not technically flying, the long jumps coupled with the cushions of chakra Naruto kept at his feet to prevent him from actually touching the limbs gave the illusion of flight. If Naruto was flying then he was not running. He was not running away from his duty, the war, his friends, or the well worn argument he had lost yet again before he took off. And so Naruto flew.

They had brought in Shikamaru to recite the counter argument that morning, the lazy strategist adhering better to assigned task than Naruto had predicted. Tsunade had long since given up at arguing with Naruto for a position she herself didn't believe in. Instead she assigned that duty to his friends. He didn't know or care if they believed the argument themselves. But even as Shikamaru had framed it Naruto would not be swayed; hiding was not a tactic. Akatsuki had proven that nearly five weeks ago with the capture of Eight-Tails. Naruto hadn't even been informed when it occurred as everyone knew what he would've done. He was told later that Killer Bee's body couldn't be recovered. The organization had learned from their previous mistake.

The frequency of the argument had increased the past three weeks since he'd discovered the jinchūriki's death. Yet Naruto suspected Tsunade was weakening as she had resorted to outside interference despite the fact that protecting Naruto was a covert operation. He couldn't hate her for assigning his friends to argue against him. He knew Tsunade still counted him as an asset even if he was Akatsuki's key to victory. He cursed the reality which tarnished his childhood understanding of the Hokage's duty.

The flare in his emotions disrupted his chakra flow forcing Naruto to land on the next branch. An unnatural wind moved through the space Naruto would've been causing his muscles to tense and his hair to stand on end. Instinctively, Naruto leaped backwards twice to higher branches pausing long enough to watch his previous perch fold, break, and hurtle towards him. He avoided the projectile easily by moving higher, the change in angle finally allowing him to see the attack.

Bits of bark and leaves spiraled below, momentarily giving the wind a cone shape before Naruto was forced to evade again. The wind tore behind him, following his random zigzag pattern, cutting a trail through the forest. Intent on outrunning the wind he almost missed the kunai aimed at his chest. Twisting, Naruto dropped his weight but was too unbalanced to land. Instead he fell halfway down the tree before snagging a branch with both hands, the wind lashing dangerously below. Wincing at the pull in his shoulders, Naruto moved to swing his feet towards the trunk. He was stopped by the second kunai which he veered backwards to avoid. But the third kunai in its shadow required him to drop his grip. Unable to maneuver away from the wind in the short distance, Naruto attempted to shield himself with his chakra. He dropped through the eye of the storm, grabbing the lowest branch as he landed across it.

Naruto moved a hand to his face. Aside from a possibly bruised stomach from the landing, he was only suffering a few minor scratches along his exposed skin and a few new rips in his attire. The wind had slowed and finally extinguished above him, cascading bits of debris at his head. He brushed it out of his hair, still coiled for the next attack. None came but he tensed when a man walked into his view. The man lacked a hitai-ate and wore no distinguishing marks as he was dressed entirely in black with only his eyes exposed. Twin katana swords were strapped to his back among other various standard equipment. He strolled easily through the forest though he eyes were fixed on Nartuo.

"Tch. What a lucky guy to find your limit so quickly." Despite the man's gaze, Naruto knew the low drawl was aimed at the second figure racing towards them.

"You waited too long." Aside from the missing katana, the second man was dressed the same as the first, though this man was about thirteen centimeters taller with a leaner build. The second man's movements were clipped instead of languid. Naruto could read the anger in his movements and his speech.

"I warned you that surprise attacks at range were not more forte."

"Hey, hey." Naruto let some of his own annoyance into his shout. "What's the big idea?"

"I thought that was obvious." The first man leaned back against a tree across from Naruto's. "We're here to kill you."

Naruto had known that much. Since the war he had been attacked by various shinobi in such a manner. Sometimes they were people convinced in Akatsuki's cause seeking to deliver him to the organization. Most were those who had lost someone during the war and blamed the jinchūriki. Naruto's usual capacity to emphasize with loss was limited by his position as their scapegoat. A few were hunters whom Naruto could almost understand. But sometimes the attacker was a thrill seeker, their lack of care for personal safety making them difficult. Being attacked was mostly just an inconvenience which would result in Naruto being moved and restricted from contact with the outside world again.

"I know that. Any particular reason?"

The second man took a step towards him, but was stopped and silenced by the first. "Nothing you need to know."

"Not even your name?"

"No."

Naruto glowered dramatically to cover his contemplation. He mentally labeled the first man Thrill-Seeker but noticed a caution unusually associated with the type. Thrill-Seeker was older, most likely a close to midrange combatant from his weapons and words. The second man he labeled Vengeance-Seeker as he fit the classification easily. Vengeance-Seeker was young, but still older than Naruto, a long range combatant, most likely a heavy ninjutsu user considering his build. Naruto didn't know what brought the two together but it seemed a fairly recent alliance. Still, they had been the first shinobi to attack while Naruto had slipped his escorts and he wasn't sure if it was skill or luck.

"Shouldn't I know the names of my killers? To know the justice behind my death?" Naruto could see how close Vengeance-Seeker was revealing something potentially beneficial. "To know whose soul will be appeased by my passing to the afterlife?"

"Enough." With the command, Thrill-Seeker nearly vanished. Focused on Vengeance-Seeker, Naruto missed the move which sliced cleanly through the trunk of his tree, sending it crashing to the ground.

Naruto used the screen of the falling branches to create his shadow clones sending twenty to distract Thrill-Seeker and keeping nine to aid against Vengeance-Seeker. He would have to keep the two divided, positioning himself past the ranged shinobi's defenses while keeping the close quarter shinobi from assisting. If their alliance was truly new, Naruto had a better chance of success.

Wasting no time, Naruto and his clones charged Vengeance-Seeker. The shinobi dodged backwards sending waves of wind shuriken around him. Three clones popped but with a burst of speed he and another clone closed in. Together they managed four solid hits before a wall of wind threw them backwards. Naruto collided with another clone, knocking them both back before the clone popped and he hit the ground. He paused only long enough to notice the Thrill-Seeker rapidly moving through his opponents. Drawing clones from both fights around him as to prevent either fighter from ascertaining his identity, Naruto called more shadow clones before dividing them once more.

"Her name was Tsugumi." Vengeance-Seeker moved through a series of signs and drew several senbon from his pouch. He released them as the wind picked them up, swirling them in a sphere around his body. Six struck the arm of the clone attacking from behind even as another deflected Naruto's kunai from above. Naruto dodged the five wind shuriken sent his way. "We never decided on a name for the child."

Part of Naruto wanted to understand how Vengeance-Seeker had connected his family's death to him, if it was again because he was a jinchūriki, but he was unsure he could follow the man's logic.

The senbon shot out of the sphere, destroying eleven clones and forcing Naruto to take cover behind a tree. A line of senbon were embedded halfway through the trunk. The tree creaked as the senbon were jerked from the bark. Naruto caught a hint of the lines of Vengeance-Seeker's chakra attached to each one. With a grimace, Naruto called more shadow clones and rolled from behind the trees.

"Without a name, your child will haunt the afterlife. It will come to hate you for your indecision." The taunt was distasteful, but Naruto needed Vengeance-Seeker's anger which caused the senbon to slash out from the sphere once more. The senbon hit the tree again, but this time as Vengeance-Seeker pulled them back Naruto sliced the chakra lines. The sudden slack forced the shinobi several steps backwards where a clone was waiting to grab his leg from underground - the only unprotected location from the wind sphere. Before Vengeance-Seeker could reattach his chakra lines or fully stabilize his shield, five clones pummeled the shinobi. Though each clone popped after being hit with the wind shield, Vengeance-Seeker was sent flying upwards. Naruto threw a Rasengan at the exposed weak point in the shield but was struck from behind before he could watch it connect.

He rolled away from Thrill-Seeker, unable to find his feet. Had the shinobi not wanted to toy with him, Naruto knew the attack could've killed him. Between the Rasengan, shadow clones, and his earlier use of chakra to fly, Naruto could feel his limit. He was still unused to using only his human chakra, having to hold some back to control Nine-Tails more as the seal weakened. There was a thud as Vengeance-Seeker hit the ground behind him, but neither man turned.

Thrill-Seeker charged. Naruto reached for the Nine-Tails' chakra and the world went red.

(~«§»~)

There was a presence watching him. It was not malicious and as the minutes rolled by the presence at the edge of his consciousness began to feel familiar. He would've been content to remain there, unmoving and unaware of anything other than that presence except the ground shifted under him. As it molded under his back and moved him into a sitting position, Naruto finally opened his eyes even though he hadn't needed to do so to know the person before him.

"Gaara." There was no moon and so Naruto had to squint at the Kazekage as his eyes adjusted to the meager light. Gaara rigidly stood above him, his body slightly turned away with his arms across his chest. Naruto had to tilt his head backwards to try to meet his eyes.

"Uzumaki." In the pause Naruto could hear a slight rustle of fabric from Gaara, though his outline had not perceptively moved. "Can you walk?"

Then he remembered his anger. And though he was too exhausted to pull forth his rage at Gaara, whom was entirely supporting Naruto with the makeshift chair, he remembered. "Of course." The phrase wasn't as sharp as he intended but he was sure the change in behavior from his greeting was perceptible.

He ignored the fact the ground did most of the work in getting him to his feet, pointedly dusting himself of any dirt or sand which may have gotten on his clothes. Naruto pulled forth his last reserve of human chakra which he must've recovered in the hours he had lain there. Refusing to ask for assistance, Naruto began walking in a direction his chose simply as it was away from Gaara. He moved slowly, not surprised that the other man caught up with him but at the distance Gaara had allowed him to cover before doing so. His feet moved mechanically up the slight incline until it leveled off.

"Stop."

Irritated at himself for following Gaara's order, Naruto turned back to the Kazekage only to find him hunched over with both hands on the ground. The soil shifted beneath their feet as the crater he had just walked out of began to fill.

Snapped alert, Naruto remembered the trees he had flown between which simply weren't there anymore. With the dim light he wasn't sure there was any sign they had ever existed. He glanced back at the tree behind him, noticing it was pruned in an twisted shape around the crater. There were no traces of his assailants.

He was absorbed in the damage around him and missed when Gaara stood. The crater had been filled in evenly though the section was still slightly lower than the surrounding area. Nothing could replace the damaged landscape.

When the man walked past him, the sand hissed at Naruto as it returned to Gaara's gourd. "Let us leave this place before your friends find it."

He could only nod and follow mutely, even if the gesture was lost on the other. To Naruto, Gaara seemed impossibly far ahead for the slow pace which the Kazekage had set.

(~«§»~)


End file.
